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Blagojevich prosecutor helping MSU with Nassar investigation

EAST LANSING - A former federal prosecutor with experience on corruption and terrorism cases has been assisting Michigan State University with its internal investigation related to Larry Nassar since shortly after sexual assault allegation were made

Blagojevich prosecutor helping MSU with Nassar investigation

Michigan State University hired former federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and his law firm in October to assist in its internal investigation related to former university doctor Larry Nassar.(Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP)

EAST LANSING - A former federal prosecutor with experience on corruption and terrorism cases has been assisting Michigan State University with its internal investigation related to Larry Nassar since October.

The university hired Patrick Fitzgerald and his law firm to lead the outside legal team and provide MSU with "guidance on how the university can best conduct the factual review so as to not interfere with the separate investigations being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Michigan Attorney General," according to a Board of Trustees statement during last Friday's meeting.

Fitzgerald was appointed in 2001 by President George W. Bush as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He led the criminal corruption prosecutions of two successive Illinois governors — George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich — and later, as special counsel, led the the investigation of leaks in the Valerie Plame matter. Plame was an undercover CIA agent whose identity was leaked.

He also assisted prosecutions related to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Fitzgerald, 56, is also a member of the University of Illinois' Board of Trustees.

His law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, is one of two that university officials said they have hired. The other, Miller Canfield, was hired in January, officials said.

An MSU spokesperson declined to say what Fitzgerald is being paid. Jason Cody said law firms are paid on a monthly basis, and said he didn't know how much Fitzgerald's firm or Miller Canfield have been paid so far.

The State Journal has requested those records under the Freedom of Information Act.

The internal investigation that Fitzgerald is assisting is one of four related to Nassar's conduct currently underway at MSU.

The university police department is leading the criminal investigations related sexual assault claims from more than 60 women or girls, some dating back decades and involving alleged abuses during medical appointments.

The university's Office of Institutional Equity is conducting internal Title IX investigations to determine if Nassar's conduct violated university policy. And MSU is conducting a policy and protocol review within the MSU HealthTeam.

In a separate matter, MSU hired the law firm Jones Day to conduct an investigation of the football team's staff amid criminal sexual assault investigations of three players. The three players, who have not been identified, and a staff member associated with the football team have been suspended, the university said.

The university fired Nassar in September and is currently facing two lawsuits, one in California and one in federal court, from more than 40 women or girls who say in court documents that Nassar sexually assaulted them during medical appointments.

Nassar, 53, of Holt, faces sexual assault charges in Ingham County Circuit Court and child pornography charges in federal court in Grand Rapids. He has not yet been charged in connection to his role as a doctor.

►Related:Here’s a timeline of Nassar’s decades-long career and the allegations against him. This will continue to be updated.

Contact Matt Mencarini at (517) 267-1347 or mmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini. Contact him on Signal, a messaging app with end-to-end encryption, at 517-281-1939.